Method for synchronization and management of system activities with locally installed applications

ABSTRACT

The present invention will enable the user to follow a presentation while waiting for presentation files to download to the user&#39;s local machine. This invention provides a dynamic cloud based approach to local hand-off. A user will be able to view a cloud or other remotely-based (found via a URL) or screen-shared version of the presentation until source material has downloaded.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of the parent application Ser. No. 13/668,561 filed on Nov. 5, 2012. The status of this parent application is pending. The contents of the parent application are incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a method for accessing and managing information located on a system by a remotely located machine device. In particular, the present invention relates to a method for handing-off and synchronizing information located at a remote system location to a local machine. Further, the invention of the present invention relates to an automatic handoff of a presentation from a remote system location to a local machine, wherein the hand-off of the presentation can be from a web-based presentation version to a local machine. Still further, the handoff can occur prior to the completion of a download from the web-based presentation to the local machine.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Slide presentations are a major form of communicating information to people. These presentations comprise information displayed on one or more slides with verbal communications based on the information displayed on the slides. Historically, these presentations have occurred in front of groups of people at one location. For example, a major component of many seminars and workshops is the slide presentation. The advancements in technology have provided new ways to use slide presentations to convey information to people. The Internet has initiated new ways for people to communicate and exchange information.

One activity resulting from technology advancements has been web-conferencing. Web conferencing is a procedure that allows conferencing events to be shared with multiple remote locations. This procedure and format allows real-time point-to-point communications between parties. In addition, web-conferencing provides for multicast communications from one sender to many receivers. Web-conferencing technology also offers information of text-based messages, voice and video chat to be shared simultaneously, across geographically dispersed locations. Applications for web conferencing include meetings, training events, lectures, or short presentations from any computer.

FIG. 1 illustrates a general configuration for a web-based conference or seminar. This process begins with the creation of a presentation that usually contains some audio and visual elements such as slides. The creator/presenter 100 uploads this presentation to a host provider location 102. This host provider can be a server device located on a network that is remote from the presenter and from those who will eventually view the presentation. Common names for this type of presentation in this format include web-conferencing and web-seminar (“webinar”). In implementation, the presenter 100 announces the activity and invites persons to attend. At the time of the activity, the presenter 100 accesses the presentation at the hosting provider 102. The attendees 104, 106, 108 and 110 also access the hosting provider to view the presentation. In the current webinar configuration, the presenter has access to and controls the presentation. The attendees access the hosting provider and view the presentation. The attendees have no control over the visual information presented. In some configurations, the attendees can ask questions of the presenter. When an attendee asks a question, the presenter can stop the presentation and answer the question. As shown in FIG. 1, the presenter 100 has the ability to transmit to and receive information from the hosting provider 102. However, as also shown, the attendees can only access and view information from the hosting provider.

During a webinar, the attendees can view the slides from the hosting provider. In another arrangement, the attendees can download the presentation to their local machine and view the presentation as it is occurring. However, currently, attendees who want to download the presentation files have to wait for files to be downloaded to their computers to follow along with a presentation. When this occurs, the speaker/presenter has to wait and initiate small talk to fill the time while attendees wait for the completion of the downloaded files. Although as previously discussed, presenters may offer a web-based version of the presentation, however, many users prefer to use locally installed applications for improved performance and to enable them to mark up (make specific notes) the slides during the presentation.

There remains a need for a method and system to enable a hybrid presentation that accommodates web presentation combined with efficient installation of a local copy.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In this invention, an automatic hand-off of a presentation is accomplished. This hand-off may be from a web-based version to a locally installed, once a sufficient portion of the version has been downloaded. For example, the presentation recipient may view a screen-shared version of a presentation while the source file is being downloaded to her machine. Prior to the download process, there is a determination of a threshold portion (percentage) of the presentation. During the download process, once the threshold portion of the file arrives on her computer, the user is automatically switched from the web version to the local one, such that bandwidth concerns about rendering are no longer problematic. Although the user is now viewing the presentation from his/her local machine, the download process continues until the completion of the download of the presentation file.

This invention enables the smooth transition from a web presentation to a locally installed one. When the threshold portion of the source file is downloaded, hand-off is automatically done from the screen sharing to local application. The local version is opened at the point where the web version left off and the downloading of the remaining portion of the source file continues. This invention may apply to multiple types of data transfer, including documents, streaming video and other software as a service applications.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view of a configuration of a conventional web-conferencing event.

FIG. 2 is a view of a configuration of a web-conferencing event in which an attendee views the displayed information while the information is being downloaded to the attendee's local machine.

FIG. 3 is a view of a configuration of a web-conferencing event in which an attendee views the displayed information on the attendee's local machine.

FIG. 4 is a view of a configuration of a web-conferencing event in which an attendee views the displayed information on the attendee's local machine, while accessing presentation audio from another device.

FIG. 5 is a view of the components of a web-hosting provider.

FIG. 6 is a general flow diagram of the steps in viewing an online presentation.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of the steps in the implementation of the method of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The method of the present invention will enable the user to follow a presentation while waiting for presentation files to download to the user's local machine. This invention provides a dynamic cloud based approach to local hand-off. It will enable users to view a cloud or other remotely-based (found via a URL) or screen-shared version of the presentation until a designated threshold portion of the source material has downloaded. After the downloading of the designated threshold portion of the material has occurred, the user will be able to view at the local machine of the user, the presentation while the remainder of the presentation continues to download.

Referring to FIG. 2, shown is a configuration of the system of the present invention in which a presenter 200 is in communication with the hosting provider 202 and begins to conduct a presentation. As mentioned, the presenter has the ability to remotely control the presentation at the hosting provider 202. The user attendees connect to the hosting provider to access the presentation. In this configuration, two of the attendees (206 and 210) are viewing the presentation in a conventional manner. Attendees (204 and 208) are viewing the presentation by implementing the method and system of the present invention. As shown, attendee 204 comprises a computing device 204 a and a memory device 204 b. The same shows for attendee 208. Both the computing device 204 a, 208 a and the memory device 204 b, 208 b are directly connected to the hosting provider 202. At the initiation of the presentation, the presentation content is being viewed on the computing device 204 a while it is also being stored on the memory device 204 b. Once the download of the contents is complete, the present invention will synchronize the downloaded presentation with the current location of the presentation at the hosting provider. This synchronizing action is part of the formal hand-off of the presentation from the hosting provider to the local user. At this point, the user can begin viewing the presentation contents from the presentation file stored in the memory device 204 b.

FIG. 3 shows a configuration of the present invention wherein an attendee 304 is viewing a downloaded presentation file of the presentation stored in the memory device 304 b from the computing device 304 a. The computing device 304 a is in communication with the memory device 304 b and with the hosting provider 302. The user will view the presentation file stored on the memory device on the computing device. The user will listen to the audio of the presentation directly from the hosting provider.

In most configurations, the memory device and the computing device are the same physical device. Further, when viewing many of these online/webinar presentations, the user is located at some stationary location. However, with the active lives of many individuals, there can be situations when a user does not have time to sit at one location and view an entire presentation. FIG. 4 is a configuration wherein a user can view a presentation while traveling. The user 404 will initially download the presentation file from the hosting provider 402 to a local storage location. In this configuration, the local storage device is in the computing device 404 a. As mentioned, once the presentation file is downloaded to the local memory/machine 404 a, the presentation is automatically synchronized to the currently slide location of the presentation. The user can incorporate a second electronic device to access the hosting provider 402. The second user device can be any device that will enable access to the audio portion of the presentation. Once the user has established an audio connection to the hosting provider 402, the user can listen to the presentation while viewing the presentation information. For example, with this configuration, a user can view a real-time presentation while riding a motor vehicle.

FIG. 5 illustrates basic components of the hosting provider device. As mentioned, the hosting provider can be a server machine located on a communication network. Presenters would upload their presentations to the hosting provider. Users would access the hosting provider to view the presentations and download presentations to local user machines. The hosting provider 500 can also be a configuration of components that form a hosting system. As illustrated, this hosting provider 500 can comprise a series of web pages 502 and a web server 504. A presentation engine 506 and conferencing applications 508 are the main components to facilitate the presentation options and functions of the present invention. The diagnostic and management module 510 ensures that the hosting provider continues to properly function. The operating system 512 and the memory 514 are basic components of any computing system.

The present invention comprises a system and a method for synchronization and management of system activities with locally installed applications. FIG. 6 illustrates a flow diagram of the general steps in creating a presentation and viewing the presentation from the hosting provider. In step 602, a presenter prepares a presentation and creates a presentation file. This presentation file could be a PowerPoint type file with multiple slides containing presentation information. After completion of the creation of the presentation file, the presenter uploads the presentation file to the host provider in step 604. The host stores the presentation file in an account for that particular presenter. This file storage activity occurs in step 606. Before the actual presentation, in step 608 announcement of the presentation is sent out to potential attendees. The presentation announcement contains information about the presentation topic, presentation time and presentation access information. At the time of the presentation, the presenter and attendees who chose to view the presentation will access the hosting provider in step 610. In step 612, the presentation begins with the presenter in control and presenting the information to the attendees. The attendees access the presentation and view the presentation from their local computing machines.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of the steps in the implementation of the method of the present invention. This method illustrates the downloading of a presentation file to an attendee's local machine while enabling the attendee to continuously view the presentation at the hosting provider during the downloading process. The steps in FIG. 7 continue the process from the end of the method of FIG. 6. Prior to the beginning of the presentation, a threshold percentage is established. This threshold percentage is the amount of the presentation that must be downloaded to the local user before a handoff of the presentation viewing from the remote/system location where the presentation originates to the local user machine occurs. For example, there could be a threshold of 20% of the presentation. If the presentation contained 20 slides, threshold for the handoff to occur would be 5 slides. During the download of the presentation, after the download of the fifth slide, there would be a handoff over the viewing of the presentation from the host provider to the local user machine. At the time of the handoff, the presentation may just be on the second slide. The threshold percentage and the download rate will be such that the downloading of the presentation will always be ahead of the actual presentation location. As mentioned, after the handoff of the presentation viewing from the host provider to the local user machine has occurred, the presentation continues to download to the local user machine until the download is complete. The complete download is transparent to the user.

Referring to FIG. 7, in the initial step 700, the user/attendee accesses the hosting provider. In step 702, the attendee begins to view the presentation at the hosting provider from a local computing device. The user can also choose to download the presentation to his/her local computing device. If the user wants to perform a download of the presentation, in step 704, the user initiates a presentation file download. A key feature of the present invention is that the user can continue to view the presentation from the hosting provider while the presentation file download of step 704 is occurring. In past systems, the user had to wait until the completion of the download to view the presentation. In addition, as previously mentioned, a presenter would also have to wait on the completion of the download in order to allow the user to keep up with the presentation. In the present invention, as the download is occurring, step 706 periodically checks the download process to determine if the percentage of the presentation that has downloaded has reached the predefined threshold. If during a download check, the determination is that the download has not reached to threshold amount, the method remains at step 706 where the checking continues.

Once the download of the presentation file to the user's local machine has reached the predetermined threshold, the method moves to step 708. As the download process continues, this step 708 begins the synchronization process, which will synchronize the downloaded presentation on the user's local device with the current location of the ongoing presentation. In step 708, there is a determination of the current location of the presentation. For example, there is a determination of which slide of the presentation is currently being shown on the presentation. Once there has been a determination of the location of the current presentation, step 710 identifies that location on the downloaded presentation. For example, a determination is that the presentation is on slide number 7. In step 710, the method will identify slide number 7 in the downloaded presentation on the user's local computing machine. At this point, step 712 will open the downloaded presentation file to the identified file location. In step 714, the user then begins to view the presentation from the local computing machine. Step 714 of the present invention is where the “handoff” occurs. Step 716 then terminates the presentation view from the hosting provider. The user will now continue to view the presentation from the user's local machine. As mentioned, in step 718, the download/transfer of the presentation file from the host provider to the user local machine continues until the download is complete. The initiation of the viewing of the presentation at the local user machine and the terminating of the access to the presentation from the hosting provider serve as the hand-off process of the present invention. Once the user begins to view the presentation from the local machine, an optional feature will enable the slides of the presentation to automatically change as the presenter changes the slides on the presentation at the hosting provider.

The present invention may apply to both:

-   -   A new presentation which the user did not previously have stored         on his local computer but is now acquiring.

While users present the slide show inside PowerPoint, the audience follows along in their browser. The presenter of a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation can put others into slave mode so they move in synch. Document management programs offer version management within documents.

It is important to note that while the present invention has been described in the context of a fully functioning data processing system, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the processes of the present invention are capable of being distributed in the form of instructions in a computer readable storage medium and a variety of other forms, regardless of the particular type of medium used to carry out the distribution. Examples of computer readable storage media include media such as EPROM, ROM, tape, paper, floppy disc, hard disk drive, RAM, and CD-ROMs. 

We claim:
 1. A method for downloading presentation files from a system host provider at a remote system location to a local user computing machine and for synchronizing and managing of host provider activities at the remote system location that are related the files downloaded to the local computing machine comprising: accessing system host provider downloadable presentation files for viewing by a user, by accessing the system host provider, then accessing a desired downloadable presentation file and then beginning viewing of the desired downloadable presentation file contained at the system host provider; determining whether a user viewing a presentation file contained at a system host provider desires to view the presentation files at a user local machine; when the determination is that the user desires to view the presentation file at the local user computing machine, initiating a file download process from the system host provider to the user local machine while continuing to view the presentation file at the system host provider; determining when a threshold percentage of the file download has occurred; when the determination is that the predetermined percentage of the presentation file download has occurred, synchronizing the downloaded presentation file at the local user machine with a current location of content of the presentation file being shown at the system host provider; transferring user access from the presentation file being shown at the system host provider to access of the downloaded presentation file at the local user machine; opening the downloaded presentation file at the user local machine at a current location that matches a location of the presentation file being shown at the system host provider and terminating user access to the presentation file at the system host provider; and continuing the presentation file download process from the system host provider to the user local machine until completion of the download process.
 2. The method as described in claim 1 further comprising before said initiating a presentation file download process from the system host provider to the user local machine, defining a threshold percentage of a presentation file, the threshold percentage being the quantity of the presentation file that is downloaded at which transfer of user access from the presentation file being shown at the system host provider to the downloaded presentation file at the local user machine will occur.
 3. The method as described in claim 1 wherein said synchronizing the downloaded presentation file at the local user machine with a current location of content of the presentation file being shown at the system host further comprises: determining a current location point of the presentation file at the system host provider; identifying a point on the presentation file downloaded to the user local machine that matches the determined current location point of the presentation file at the system host provider; and synchronizing the point on the presentation file downloading at the user local machine with the determined current location point of the presentation file at the system host provider.
 4. The method as described in claim 1 wherein said threshold defining further comprises determining a presentation file download rate for the download of the presentation file being viewed by the user.
 5. The method as described in claim 4 wherein the defined threshold is determined by the size of the presentation file being downloaded and the file download rate for the download of the presentation file being viewed by the user.
 6. The method as described in claim 1 further comprising before said accessing of a system host provider containing files for viewing by a user, creating a downloadable file.
 7. The method as described in claim 6 wherein the created downloadable presentation file is created at a system host provider location.
 8. The method as described in claim 6 wherein the created downloaded presentation file is created at a remote system location.
 9. The method as described in claim 6 wherein the downloadable presentation file created at the system host provider location is stored in an account specifically designated for the presenter.
 10. The method as described in claim 1 further comprising before said accessing of a system host provider containing files for viewing by a user, sending an announcement of the availability to potential users of downloadable files, the announcement containing information regarding time and host access information for the downloadable files.
 11. A method for downloading presentation files from a system or remote location to a local computing machine and for synchronizing and managing of system presentation activities at a local machine comprising: accessing system host provider downloadable presentation files for viewing by a user, by accessing the system host provider, accessing a desired downloadable presentation file and beginning viewing of the desired downloadable presentation file contained at the system host provider; determining whether a user viewing the presentation file contained at a system host provider desires to view the presentation file at a user local machine; when the determination is that the user viewing the presentation files desire to view the presentation file, defining a threshold percentage of a presentation file, the threshold percentage being the quantity of the presentation file that is downloaded at which transfer of user access from the presentation file being shown at the system host provider to the downloaded presentation file at the local user machine will occur. initiating a file download process from the system host provider to the user local machine while continuing to view the file at the system host provider; when the determination is that a presentation file download to the user local machine has reached the defined threshold, synchronizing the downloaded file at the user local machine with the file located at the system host provider; transferring user access to the downloaded file from access at the system host provider to access at the local user machine; and terminating the user's access to the file at the system host provider and opening the downloaded file at the user local machine at the point that matches a point of the file at the system host provider; and continuing the presentation file download process from the system host provider to the user local machine until completion of the download process.
 12. The method as described in claim 11 wherein said downloaded file synchronizing the downloaded file at the user local machine further comprises: determining a current location point of the file at the hosting provider; identifying a point on the file downloaded to the user local machine that matches the determined current location point of the file at the hosting provider; and synchronizing the point on the file downloaded to the user local machine with the determined current location point of the file at the hosting provider.
 13. The method as described in claim 11 wherein said threshold defining further comprises determining a presentation file download rate for the download of the presentation file being viewed by the user.
 14. The method as described in claim 13 wherein the defined threshold is determined by the size of the presentation file being downloaded and the file download rate for the download of the presentation file being viewed by the user.
 15. The method as described in claim 11 further comprising before said accessing of a hosting provider containing files for viewing by a user, creating a presentation file.
 16. The method as described in claim 15 wherein the presentation file is created at a hosting provider location.
 17. The method as described in claim 15 wherein the presentation file is created at a hosting provider location.
 18. The method as described in claim 15 wherein the presentation file created at the hosting provider location is stored in an account specifically designated for the presenter.
 19. The method as described in claim 11 further comprising before said accessing of a hosting provider containing files for viewing by a user, sending an announcement of the presentation to potential users, the announcement containing information regarding presentation time and host access information. 